If he had left a few hairs on his head, Alex Caruso might have torn them out of spite at the sight of Game 7 between Boston and Philadelphia, that Jayson Tatum dominated by scoring 51 points, giving the Celtics qualification for the conference finals.
Asked to comment on the attacking qualities of “JT”, the rear of the Bulls explained why the Sixers had got it all wrong about this duel. For Alex Caruso, the biggest mistake Philly defenders made was not watching Jayson Tatum’s left hand enough.
“I wonder if people are watching the video sessions… Someone has to know that if Jayson Tatum has a ball in his left hand, there’s probably a 95% chance he’ll take the shot”, he said in the podcast “The Old man and the Three”. “Action after action, he was going to come out, and either take a small step back, or rise up and shoot. I thought to myself, but you are way too far from the line, the guy is already at 30 points! “.
Not as easy as it looks!
Alex Caruso was right, and for good reason, his presence in the best defensive major five of the year is no coincidence. This season, he defended Tatum for almost 13 minutes, spread over four games, and was quite good, as the Celtics winger returned 4/13 on shot and 1/5 from 3-point range, with a ball. lost as a bonus. But what the Bulls player did not analyze from his sofa was the perfect use of the rule of alternation, essential in basketball.
If we review the course of the match, Jayson Tatum was aggressive towards the circle in the first half, which allowed him to score six times in the key, but also to cause many faults to go on the throwing line -francs. He will register his first 3-point basket of the evening, 30 seconds before the break.
His left hand then served as an accelerator on the first step, exactly as on the first action of the second half when he overtook Joel Embiid. It wasn’t until later, when his repeated penetrations forced the Sixers back down, perhaps even unconsciously, that Alex Caruso’s observation proved accurate.
A puzzle still far from solved
More generally, Caruso felt that the Philadelphia players had been too permissive with Jayson Tatum in this game. For him, two beginnings of a solution are available to those who make it their mission to limit him: try to remove something from his panoply, and not let him dribble too much.
“You have to take something away, you can’t give him so many 3-point shots, eight to ten attempts, and let him go to free throws”he confided before giving his last instruction: do everything to shake up his bearings. “He really played while being comfortable. You have to be physical with this kind of guy in attack. If you let them play with the ball a bit, it’s as if they find themselves in training, at a training session during the summer (…). He can go to his right, to his left, he can play on the periphery, and we know he will score. I think I will try to prevent him from putting his 3-pointers in the lead of the racket”.
Miami is doing its best to contain the leader of the Celtics more, and has done quite well in view of the results of the first two games. Despite everything, Jayson Tatum scored 30 or more points each time, with 51.4% shooting success… But he did not put a single basket in the fourth quarter after two matches.
| Jayson Tatum | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2017-18 | BOS | 80 | 31 | 47.5 | 43.4 | 82.6 | 0.6 | 4.4 | 5.0 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 13.9 |
| 2018-19 | BOS | 79 | 31 | 45.0 | 37.3 | 85.5 | 0.9 | 5.2 | 6.0 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 15.7 |
| 2019-20 | BOS | 66 | 34 | 45.0 | 40.3 | 81.2 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 3.0 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 23.4 |
| 2020-21 | BOS | 64 | 36 | 45.9 | 38.6 | 86.8 | 0.8 | 6.6 | 7.4 | 4.3 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 2.7 | 0.5 | 26.4 |
| 2021-22 | BOS | 76 | 36 | 45.3 | 35.3 | 85.3 | 1.1 | 6.9 | 8.0 | 4.4 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 2.9 | 0.6 | 26.9 |
| 2022-23 | BOS | 74 | 37 | 46.6 | 35.0 | 85.4 | 1.1 | 7.7 | 8.8 | 4.6 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 30.1 |
| Total | 439 | 34 | 45.8 | 37.5 | 84.7 | 0.9 | 6.1 | 7.0 | 3.3 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 22.5 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Shots made / Shots attempted; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def= defensive rebound; Tot = Total bounces; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost bullets; Ct: Counters; Points = Points.
